The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-15
THE DAILY NEWS
Bill Arp and Bill Nye at Il.

People who went to Chickering Hall
last evening to hear the Southern hu-
morist lecture on Dixie Now and Dixie
Them" expecting to learn something Of
Mr.. Adonis Dixey's past life, were, Of
course, somewhat disappointed, for the
speaker did not allude to Henry during
the entire evening. Major Smith il best
known to the American reader az ssBill
Arp" Why he adopted the compare
lively c1lMOn name Of Arp when he
already had the striking and unique
name Of Smith, it is hard to say. Bill
Arp is man perhaps fifty wears Of age
and had two OF his sons with him in his
room at the Fifth Avenue, one Of them
being a journalist of this city. IL was
his first appearance as talker for money
in the metropolis and his nervousness
was something quite painful to contem-
plate.
Bill Arp opened last evening to a fair
audience by describing the original Bill
Arp, from whom his nom de plume was
derived.
Major Smith managed to tell the peo-
pie good deal about his personal mat
tiers and something about Dixie incident
ally, He was introduced by the more
than eloquent Algernon Sullivan, and
had his lecture in manuscript form. His
delivery can hardly be called easy, but
his stories are ver7 good and have al
ways been 50 regarded.
He says that the people Of the South
are now divided into two great classes:
those who have seen better days and who
have not. This is like the condition Of
a Western town where the voters were
divided into two parties, the postmaster
being ON one side and the rest Of the peo-
pie ON the other.
MAJOR Smith said that the aristOcracy
Of the South consisted of thoroughbreds,
but they were retired from the turf. He
said that the ladies' wore starched col
lars and corsets and read GOdey's Ladys
Book. 1t is to be hoped that they do not
read G0dey's Lddy's Book very much in
public under those circumstances.
Bill Arp said, slso, that money was
simply social apology for lack OF
brains. This pleased me very much,
but it made the millionaires in the aud
fence squirm.
He states that after the war in the
South the girls were sent to college
while the boys were kept at home to
work. SO that now there are ten college
bred girls at the South to one college
bred young man. This would indicate
that the cooking at the South will soon
be extremely no better.
lie lcCJuTcTS cAkWtieuCc 30 q hcvCA
and his offer to scale the ChimbOrazo in
order to secure tiger-a small tiger
for his sweetheart, was received well, al
though it did not relate directly to MIR.
Dixey, either now or previously.
He stated that as a child he had a flu
rious temper. and frequently bucked his
head against a door or bit himself in his
paroxysms. His father was a Massa-
chusetts Yankee ard his mother native
of South Carolina, so that the temper of
young Arp was regarded as sectional
fight between Massachusetts and South
Carolina. He does not say whether his
mother pulled out the centerbOard and
spanked him with it or not, but she
yacht to.
We will now suppose that period of
one hour has elapsed.
Toward the close of the lecture Major
Smith said that American slavery " as
really kind of charity school, some
thing like the Dotheboys Educational
Institution possibly.
There We're many good things in Bill
APPS lecture, and the people who got up
and went out before the close will GER
tainly regret it when they come to lee
ture themselves. BILL NYE.